Scandal Sheet (1952) by the DVD Man

I love it when the first character name mentioned is a Frank! Scandal Sheet is a film noir movie from 1952 starring Broderick Crawford, Donna Reed & John Derek, about a newspaper's hunt for a murder suspect. The newspaper runs a Lonely Hearts Ball and an attendee dies later that night.

Crawford plays a newspaper editor that has turned an old respectable newspaper into a scandalous tabloid that is now making plenty of dough. He bursts into the boardroom just as an old biddy stockholder says: "I demand an explanation, Frank Madison!" Frank is the publisher and has hired Crawford as his gunslinger. Crawford asks the old biddy if she likes her dividend check and that shuts her up.

It's excellently acted and directed with lots of twists and turns and suspense. The audience knows who the murderer is from the beginning and the characters have to catch up at the very end. There is a bit of scenery chewing, but that makes it all good.

It's not out on DVD yet and I saw it on a special Turner Classic Movie night that had three movies directed by Phil Karlson that are rarely on TV - Scandal Sheet, The Phenix City Story & The Brothers Rico. Catch them if you can.

This is Frank movie number 25.

Brainstorm by the DVD Man

Brainstorm, starring Christopher Walken & Natalie Wood (her last movie), is very entertaining. It's about recording a person's thoughts, feelings, emotions, senses, etc. and recording them and transmitting them to other people.

Louise Fletcher plays the main Scientist and as she's dying from a heart attack (it's really a big movie about the evils of chain smoking), she records her last 30 seconds of life...

There is also the Military-Industrial Complex sub-plot with a Mad Scientist who resembles an albino Dr. Frankenstein, who hijacks the project.

The three best parts for me are:

1. There must be at least 50-75 tape drives in this movie, which is definitely an all time record - all kinds, little ones, gigantic ones, vacuum drives, video drives, etc.
2. Lots of evil, taunting industrial robots that made me laugh. Scene: Security guard gets knocked over by a robot arm, runs out of the doors and then comes flying back in on a robot forklift full of cans of expanding foam - Gee Whiz, I wonder what's going to happen with that? Another forklift crashes into a door and spills about a billion Styrofoam peanuts! Guard slips under the expanding foam in the robot room. Excellent!
3. Last, but not least.... A perfect Frank inclusion!!! Evil albino Mad Scientist picks up the phone and says: "Frank, call the rest of the group" No credits, no person, just a Frank on the phone. What could be better than that? I had to back up the DVD just to make sure.

The Man Who Sued God by the DVD Man

The Man Who Sued God, starring Billy Connelly and Judy Davis, is a lot of fun. I laughed out loud many times. There is physical comedy as when Billy & Judy first meet and the story of an ex-lawyer, turned itinerant fisherman, who's boat gets hit by lightning and has problem with the big Insurance Company (sounds familiar, eh?) who say they don't pay on "Acts of God", has a lot of comedy rocks to mine.

I highly recommend this movie.

And Starring Pancho Villa As Himself

And Starring Pancho Villa As Himself, is an HBO movie, so it was OK, but not great. It's based on a true story about the Mutual Film Company (home to Charlie Chaplin and D.W. Griffith), paid Pancho Villa to film his real battles in the Mexican Revolution.

The best part for me, was when the opening credits are rolling, they pan over a letter addressed to Frank Thayer, the Mutual Film Company producer of the film. Then when Pancho meets Frank, Antonio Banderas as Pancho Villa says: "Pancho means Frank. Francisco Pancho Villa. We are two Franks."

Of course, no movie made in Mexico is without lots of chickens and there are plenty. So I enjoyed the movie and then I did a bunch of Wikipedia searches to find more about the Mexican Revolution, Pancho Villa, the Mutual Film Company, etc. Learned a bit of history...